In the lead-up to ANZAC Day, around the country, the New Zealand Remembrance Army – Te Taua Manaaki o Ngā Morehu (NZRA) is finding and providing memorials to forgotten service people.
Many years after conflicts they served in had ended, many soldiers were honoured for their service with a grave and headstone provided by the government. However, many were not so fortunate with some being buried in unmarked, long-forgotten graves.
“In cemeteries around New Zealand there are potentially hundreds of returned service people in unmarked graves that lack a marker, headstone, or nameplate indicating who is buried there,” says Simon Strombom, Managing Director of the NZRA
“Due to family circumstances, some were buried without a funeral or a permanent headstone. At the time, money for a headstone may have been scarce and older wooden markers simply deteriorated or were stolen,” says Simon.
By finding these forgotten final resting places the NZRA is recognising their lives and contribution to history.
This ANZAC Day 2023, the NZRA’s volunteers and partners are giving 40 forgotten men and women the recognition they deserve with new headstones.
“On what is currently an empty patch of earth, we are giving soldiers, aviators, sailors, and nurses back their names and faces. Doing this sometimes reconnects them with surviving family members and means future generations can learn about their extraordinary story,” says Simon.
“Finding and placing a memorial as the least we can do to honour that person’s memory and service to New Zealand. – because they are not the unknown soldier, it’s someone who is known, and they need to be remembered,” Simon said.
Notes
The New Zealand Remembrance Army – Te Taua Manaaki o Ngā Morehu (NZRA) is a charitable trust set up to foster volunteer groups across New Zealand. Our aim is to restore the headstones and family memorials of our service men and women to a high national standard.
We are working hard in your communities around the country to raise the standard of service graves and memorials to be the same or higher than those overseas. Our vision is to have every service grave pristine, every service contribution remembered.
Thanks to product sponsorship from Bio-Shield, Resene Paints and Topflite, all restoration work is provided freely and volunteers carry out the work within their local communities. We also work in conjunction with the Returned Services Association, veterans and other community groups.
For the NZRA remembrance is not just one day a year on ANZAC Day – its every day.
